Middle Orient

Ansar al-Islam is a Kurdish Salafist and jihadist group operating in the Kurdistan mountains in northern Iraq all the way to Latakia in Syria, fighting against the Syrian government. Ansar al-Islam is considered a Salafist-jihadist movement seeking to establish an “Islamic state” according to its own vision and Islamic governance …

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh promises the wife of prominent Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti that her husband will be a priority for the next swap deal with Israel. A prominent Hamas leader told Al-Monitor that the movement’s chief, Ismail Haniyeh, promised Fadwa al-Barghouti, the wife of senior Fatah leader Marwan al-Barghouti, …

The Islamic State’s religious police are back at work in the areas under the control of the Syrian Democratic Forces in northeast Syria. The Islamic State’s religious police — known as Hesba — has made a comeback in the areas under the control of the Syrian Democratic Forces in northeast …

The US administration might be open to a position shift on the Syrian file to secure the flow of cross-border international aid to Syria, a prospect that may spoil Turkey’s calculations in Syria and particularly in Idlib. Although humanitarian aid to Syria was hardly a top agenda item during President …

Despite his hardline credentials, Iran’s foreign policy is likely to remain unified under the new president. Ebrahim Raisi was elected as the new president of the Islamic Republic of Iran on June 19. The official inauguration will take place in early August. How will the relationship between Iran and Iraq …

The president-elect said Iran wants “interaction with the world” and called on US President Joe Biden to lift all sanctions. Days after his landslide victory, Iranian President-elect Ebrahim Raisi said on Monday that his new government will focus on engagement with regional neighbors. “Iran wants interaction with the world,” Raisi …

While tensions between Israel and Iran have been omnipresent in the Middle East for decades, the prospect of open military conflict between the two countries has never seemed closer than it does now. Over the past few months, the two rivals have escalated an undeclared naval war featuring unclaimed attacks …

Jean-Yves Le Drian told a French TV station there is still a long way to go to improve Turkey-France relations, mentioning Syria, Libya and the eastern Mediterranean. The French and Turkish presidents had a cordial meeting earlier this week. France’s top diplomat said there is a “verbal cease-fire” between France …

Iran’s new president, Ebrahim Raisi, represents the hardliners within the Islamic Republic. In this Q&A, Crisis Group experts Ali Vaez and Naysan Rafati explain why the U.S. should nevertheless persist in working to restore the 2015 nuclear deal to its full promise. What distinguished these elections in Iran? No Iranian …

Hard-line cleric Ebrahim Raisi has been declared the presumptive winner of Iran’s June 18 presidential vote, which was marred by the disqualification of prominent moderates that paved the way for Raisi’s path to presidency. Concerns have been raised that Raisi’s rise to power could bring more social and political restrictions …